WHAT IS E-TOLLING?

e-toll (in South Africa) consists of the electronic toll collection (ETC) processes employed by South Africa’s roads agency Sanral on selected toll roads or toll lanes, subject to the Sanral Act of 1998. As of 2014, 19% of South Africa’s national roads were toll roads. Sanral derives its income both from toll income and the national fiscus, while initial capital outlay for large projects are funded by open market bond issues.

The two main ETC methods are “Boom-down” electronic toll collection and open road tolling (ORT). The systems were designed to fund the R20 billion highway upgrade program (GFIP or Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project) which was implemented in 2007 and largely completed by April 2011. Open road tolling went live in Gauteng province on December 3, 2013, when the province had some 3.5 million registered vehicles.

The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project led to a large decrease in traffic congestion when construction finished 2011-2012. Cape Town, for the first time in decades, became the most congested city in South Africa.